Focus: Hidden - Massachusetts

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Major infections such as influenza and bacterial sepsis kill millions of people each year, often resulting from dangerous complications that impair the body's blood vessels. But the reasons why some patients experience these dramatic responses to infections -- and others don't -- have been unclear. Now, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center find that the Tie2 gene plays a role.

• share
• favorite_border

Studies report no reduction in the amyloid-β peptide or the plaques it forms. Hints of efficacy came from four people free of the ApoE4 risk gene for AD, and one patient who was on it for nearly two years. Meanwhile, scientists uncovered a new mechanism of action for bexarotene. Researchers wonder what’s going on.

• share
• favorite_border

In a first large-scale systematic study, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and McGill University found that most sibling proteins – known as “protein isoforms” encoded by the same gene – often play radically different roles within tissues and cells, however alike they may be structurally.

• share
• favorite_border

Paula A. Johnson, MD, MPH, a professor and faculty member at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has been selected to be the 14th president of Wellesley College, the preeminent liberal arts college for women.

• share
• favorite_border

Faulty bioelectric signaling has been found to be responsible for the skull and facial abnormalities that characterize the rare genetic disorder Andersen-Tawil Syndrome (ATS). It may therefore be possible to alter bioelectrical signaling to correct effects of fetal alcohol syndrome and other developmental defects or genetic mutations.

• share
• favorite_border

Wellesley College is taking a creative approach to celebrating the 200th anniversary Mary Shelley’s 'Frankenstein' by screening films uniquely inspired by Shelley and her work.

• share
• favorite_border

Babson College and the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) have announced an extension of their partnership. For the next three years, CSC will continue to serve as the resident theater company of Babson, the recognized world leader in entrepreneurship education and the only school dedicated to advancing Entrepreneurship of All Kinds®.

• share
• favorite_border

Twenty-six aspiring undergraduates experienced life as medical students or research scientists during the fourth Tufts University School of Medicine/University of Massachusetts Boston Enrichment program. The undergraduates took part in an intensive curriculum that ran for three weeks at Tufts.

• share
• favorite_border

Inhibiting the Rho kinases ROCK1 and ROCK2 with fasudil, a drug approved in China and Japan, stimulates tau autophagy in cell culture and flies.

• share
• favorite_border

According to a paper just published in Cancer Medicine, cancer has a devastating and age-specific impact on the finances of young adult survivors, and increased dialogue between healthcare providers and young adults has the potential to empower this population at risk for adverse financial and psychosocial outcomes, and steer them towards reputable sources of financial support.

• share
• favorite_border

Each of our cells has a time to die. Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, helps keep our bodies healthy by ensuring that excess or potentially dangerous cells self-destruct. One way cells know when to pull the plug is through signals received by so-called death receptors that stud cells’ surfaces. Researchers studying a death receptor called Fas have now found that for immune cells to hear the death knell, a largely overlooked portion of the receptor must coil into an intricate three-part formation.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School and the University of Crete have conducted a phase I/II clinical trial investigating the efficacy of statins (cholesterol-lowering medications) for the treatment of patients with the dry form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) — the leading cause of blindness in the developed world.

• share
• favorite_border

To ensure that this population receives proper care, the American Diabetes Association has issued its first position statement to address the management of diabetes in long-term care facilities, which include assisted living, skilled nursing and nursing facilities.

• share
• favorite_border

Joslin Diabetes Center, the, the world-renowned diabetes expert, has appointed John A. Perry, CFRE, a skilled fundraising professional with extensive experience in healthcare philanthropy, as Chief Development Officer effective February 1.

• share
• favorite_border

An immuno-oncology collaboration with potential applicability in a wide range of oncology indications

• share
• favorite_border

Mass. Eye and Ear researchers describe the role of endomucin, a molecule that – under healthy circumstances – resists the adhesion of white blood cells as they move through the circulatory system. These findings suggest that promoting the expression of endomucin may prevent the collection of white blood cells that causes tissues to become inflamed.

• share
• favorite_border

North­eastern Uni­ver­sity has moved into the top tier for research activity among higher edu­ca­tion insti­tu­tions, according to a leading clas­si­fi­ca­tion used to dis­tin­guish U.S. col­leges and universities.

• share
• favorite_border

The Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) today announced the launch of a new online community that will offer support and information for people with cancer, their friends, families and caregivers.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers found a way of differentiating angiocentric gliomas from other low-grade pediatric brain tumors and developed a pathological test that will help children avoid unnecessary and potentially damaging additional therapies.

• share
• favorite_border

While regulators are trying to figure out what went wrong, independent chemists have dug into the mechanism of what may have been a "dirty" drug.

• share
• favorite_border

New research led by a scientific team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center provides important insights into the biology underlying PI3K's role in glycolysis, the metabolic process that enables cancer cells to thrive by generating biomass and energy.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School have described, for the first time, the adult brain’s ability to compensate for a near-complete loss of auditory nerve fibers that link the ear to the brain. The findings, published in the current issue of Neuron, suggest that the brain’s natural plasticity can compensate for inner ear damage to bring sound detection abilities back within normal limits; however, it does not recover speech intelligibility. This imperfect hearing recovery may explain a common auditory complaint, in which some patients report difficulties understanding speech despite having normal hearing thresholds.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study finds that providing zinc supplements to older adults in nursing homes increased their serum zinc levels and improved their immune response, providing potential protection against infection. The research group’s previous work found that nursing home residents had low zinc levels.

• share
• favorite_border

Physicists have long predicted the possibility of tying knots in quantum fields. But no one has been able to make or observe a three-dimensional quantum knot, until now. In a breakthrough discovery explored in a paper published in Nature Physics, one of the most prestigious journals in physics, a scientific team led by Amherst Physics Professor David S. Hall ’91 and Aalto University (Finland) Professor Mikko Möttönen have found a way to create knotted solitary waves in a quantum-mechanical field.

• share
• favorite_border

The severity of the criminal penalty for human trafficking in the U.S. has no effect on the number of suspects who are arrested and prosecuted for the crime, according to a wide-ranging new study by Northeastern criminologist Amy Farrell and her research partners.

• share
• favorite_border

The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce has awarded Lori Laffel, M.D., MPH, Chief of the Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult Section at Joslin Diabetes Center and Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, the Achievement in the Professions distinction for the 2016 Pinnacle Awards.

• share
• favorite_border

Whitehead Institute researchers have created a new mouse-human modeling system that could be used to study neural crest development as well as the modeling of a variety of neural crest related diseases, including such cancers as melanoma and neurofibromatosis. Mouse-human chimeras would fill an important gap in disease research, as existing models do not accurately mimic key disease processes, including solid tumor initiation and progression, and are of little value for studying diseases with long latencies, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

• share
• favorite_border

The University of California San Diego’s incoming Alzheimer’s research czar talked with Alzforum about where he wants to take the embattled Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study and neurodegeneration research in the region.

• share
• favorite_border

Babson College Professor Patricia Greene has received an award for her ‘Outstanding Contributions in Women’s Research’ from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship® (USASBE) and its Special Interest Group – Minority and Women Entrepreneurship.

• share
• favorite_border

According to a new study led by researchers at Tufts University, 92 percent of both large-chain and non-chain restaurants serve meals exceeding recommended calorie requirements for a single serving. The researchers suggest offering consumers smaller portions at lower prices.

• share
• favorite_border

A pioneer in developing life-saving therapies for a deadly heart arrhythmia has called on electrophysiologists to reexamine a widely used technique to guide the treatment of the faulty electrical impulses responsible for these abnormal heart beats.

• share
• favorite_border

The Wolf Foundation announced earlier this week that it has awarded the Wolf Prize in Medicine to C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., Chief Academic Officer and Senior Investigator at Joslin Diabetes Center and the Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

• share
• favorite_border

Three Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers, writing in a special issue of JAMA published today, make the case for policies and practices that give terminally ill patients more control over how and where they will die

• share
• favorite_border

While no cure is in sight, ALS experts see reason to feel hopeful about research progress and possible new treatments.

• share
• favorite_border

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at BIDMC and MetroWest Medical Center have signed a clinical affiliation agreement that will expand access to clinical services west of Boston and strengthen the organizations' ability to provide comprehensive and coordinated care.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at Tufts University are collaborating with the United States Military Academy on a first-of-its-kind, five-year longitudinal study of how West Point develops character and leadership in its cadets, a project that could help predict which practices produce successful officers and influence character and leadership education in schools, businesses, and other organizations.

• share
• favorite_border

Babson College Professor Heidi Neck has been named President of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship® (USASBE). Neck serves as Babson’s Jeffry A. Timmons Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies, and as Faculty Director of the college’s Symposia for Entrepreneurship Educators (SEE)—programs designed to further develop faculty from around the world in the art and craft of teaching entrepreneurship and building entrepreneurship programs.

• share
• favorite_border

A study in aged mice shows that excess folic acid intake causes lowered immune function because important immune cells, called natural killer (NK) cells, are less effective.

• share
• favorite_border

Several of the world’s most influential leaders in global economic policy will take part in a public dialogue, entitled “Addressing Global Inequality,” on January 31, 2016, at Wellesley College’s Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs. The event will feature Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund; Sri Mulyani Indrawati, managing director and chief operating officer of the World Bank; and Mark Malloch-Brown, former deputy secretary general and chief of staff for the United Nations. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ’59, a Wellesley alumna who founded the Institute, will also take part in the public dialogue. This year’s Institute addresses the complicated issues related to global inequality.

• share
• favorite_border

The Division of Clinical Informatics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) / World Health Organization have signed a framework agreement to collaborate in supporting the advancement of eHealth in Latin America and the Caribbean.

• share
• favorite_border

The most complicated of the age-relating dementing diseases just got a little clearer. Marked by degeneration of both the mind and the body, dementia with Lewy bodies combines aspects of both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. DLB has for years languished in the shadows of its eponymous cousins when it came to recognition and research funding, but a recent, once-in-a-decade international conference showcased progress in better defining what DLB is and setting the stage for therapy trials.

• share
• favorite_border

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Tufts University have signed a memo of understanding paving the way for the School of the Museum of Fine Arts to become part of Tufts in 2016. When finalized, this would expand the 70-year relationship between the SMFA and Tufts, giving faculty and students enriched programmatic opportunities and enhanced access to museum resources.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study at Massachusetts Eye and Ear showed that in some cases of vestibular schwannoma, a sometimes-lethal tumor often associated with neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2), secretions from the tumor contain toxic molecules that damage the inner ear. The findings, published online in Scientific Reports, explain why some vestibular schwannomas cause hearing loss even though they are not large enough to compress nearby structures that control hearing.

• share
• favorite_border

In a report published in the journal Neuron, an international team of researchers defined the makeup of the cellular structures through which nerve cells communicate with each other, revealing new and elegant features of the sites that wire the brain.

• share
• favorite_border

No one wants to end up in the ER with food-related illness. New free food safety videos created by a team of TWU nutrition & food sciences researchers are designed to lower that risk in America’s restaurants and kitchens.

• share
• favorite_border

The Boston University Questrom School of Business announced today that Peter Fox-Penner, renowned expert in energy policy, sustainability and business strategy, will join the School as Professor of the Practice on January 1, 2016. Dr. Fox-Penner will lead initiatives to expand the School’s education programs in the field of sustainability, including the creation of a University-wide Institute for Sustainable Energy.

• share
• favorite_border

Now researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have identified a key protein produced in the liver that aids in accelerating the growth of these cells.

• share
• favorite_border

Whitehead Institute researchers have created a map of the DNA loops that comprise the three dimensional (3D) structure of the human genome and contribute to gene regulation in human embryonic stem cells. The location of genes and regulatory elements within this chromosomal framework will help scientists better navigate their genomic research, establishing relationships between mutations and disease development.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists have made several kinds of mice in the hope of mimicking ALS and frontotemporal dementia, diseases caused by mutations in the C9ORF72 gene. Early results indicate that the mutated genes generate unusual RNAs and proteins, but that losing the normal C9ORF72 gene does not kill neurons.